In the past fifteen years there has been a great deal of development in the north, which has mainly been facilitated by one private developer. This development has included a range of types including housing, commercial and retail. When the eThekwini Municipality was formalised in 2001 the Municipality did not feel that rapid growth in the north was ideal. This view was unlike those of the Transitional Local Council and the previous North Durban Council. However, the Municipality shifted its opinion with the development of the King Shaka International Airport (KSIA) and the Dube Tradeport (DTP), as these two developments accelerated the opportunities for growth. The Municipality recognised this potential and have been working collaboratively with the private sector to organise the development in the north in an ordered and sustainable manner. The establishment of such collaborative partnership is highlighted in the Local Economic Development (LED) strategy, promoted by national government. The main challenge in the area is the need for infrastructure such as sanitation and water, which are lacking in the NMPR.
The discourses used in the north resonate with the international paradigm of New Urbanism.
These principles have been influential in the planning literature in South Africa and they have been incorporated into government policy and thinking. The principles are: sustainability;
mixed use development; compaction; and being public transport orientated. These principles have been interwoven with the discourses unique to the context of the country. These discourses support integration where formally disadvantaged areas are linked into the urban system using, in the case of eThekwini, the IRPTN and the ideology of corridors and nodes. In the context of the north the areas to be linked are INK, Phoenix and Verulam with Umhlanga, Mount Edgecombe, and the Gateway precinct through the IRPTN route from Bridge City in KwaMashu to Umhlanga via Cornubia.
Shifting the attention to the two plans, the LAP should inform the Framework Plan, however, the processes were simultaneous and the LAP informed the Framework Plan and vice versa.
The LAP has been completed and is now a static plan therefore it will become dated (if it is not already). On the other hand, in comparison the Framework Plan is constantly evolving as a direct result of the spatial knowledge changing. This evolving plan is guiding Cornubia. The Cornubia development will be phased in over a long time frame therefore the concept for the area will change, which will inform the Framework Plan. For example, the LAP was not informed by the 55 decibel noise contour, whereas the Framework Plan was adapted to take this into consideration with consequential changes to the development pattern i.e. no residential development within the 55 decibel noise zone.
As mentioned, other spatial knowledges contained within both plans are the creation of a new node and the arterial route through the site. These spatial elements will remain in the plans as they are central to the development. However, the placement of the node has been highly contested with the node now being placed across the N2 from the Gateway Precinct. Other spatial elements are the low-cost housing which has shifted ever since the project began. This is problematic as the eThekwini Municipality has a mandate to provide this housing. This housing is the pro-poor element of the site. However the numbers of housing units have declined as low-cost housing cannot be built within the noise zone. The commercial and medium income housing, which is the pro-growth portion of the site, will be market driven and therefore will evolve with the fluctuations of the market.
Knowledge has been exchanged in a collaborative manner between both the Municipality and the private developer as well as between the different municipal departments. This knowledge
exchange happened through extensive workshops and discussions. Private consultants, who were involved with the exchange of knowledge are also facilitating the knowledge production process and the creation of cohesive plans. Moreover there was an exchange of implicit knowledge as professionals keep up to date with international knowledge. Companies like THD also explore benchmarking models to evaluate the best methods of building and cost analysis.
The knowledge used in the two plans was expert knowledge and it was pooled from the joint experience of the individuals working together and contributing knowledge into the development of the plans. From data collected regarding the experience of the respondents’, they collectively have 236 years of experience. This knowledge includes “corporate knowledge” that is found within THD and the political, technical and managerial knowledge found within the Municipality.
The LAP had a participation process which was designed as meetings for community members therefore community knowledge was sought for the LAP process. However, the main interests of the community were the immediate issues such as housing and job opportunities. These interests highlight the chronic needs found in many of the communities within South Africa.
The needs of the communities are ‘instant’ solutions to create well-being and better livelihoods.
This results in the public not necessarily wanting to engage with broad planning like the LAP.
Both the Framework Plan and the LAP for Cornubia were also designed in the absence of a community being in existence at Cornubia, therefore the design has been created for a hypothetical community. This hypothetical community was therefore unable to participate in the design process as it was uncertain who would move to Cornubia.
The local contextual issues are firstly the housing subsidy, which is government funding for households that earn under R3500 a month. Both the Municipality and private consultants expressed their concerns over the housing subsidy as it does not allow for the creation of dense communities. This does not necessarily contradict the ideal for compaction as the subsidy allows for four storey walk ups as opposed to the older subsidy of one RDP house, one stand.
However, it limits densification which is key in providing public transport and more sustainable communities. The 1997 Housing policy advocated mass delivery of RDP style houses as there was a huge backlog for housing at the beginning of the post-apartheid era. The problem with
the RDP style housing projects was the impact that it has had on the landscape. These developments are large sprawling entities on the periphery of towns and cities.
The new ‘Breaking New Ground’ housing policy changed the housing discourse to one of sustainable human settlements and this has allowed for a certain amount of densification with different typologies of housing. Housing densities can only be increased to the west of the N2.
The reason for this being that the coastal plain was developed during the apartheid era as White suburban areas and the area can only be densified according to the local planning scheme which will not yield the densification level required to create optimal sustainable communities.
The second local contextual issue has been ecological preservation as Cornubia has a large amount of land dedicated to the wetland drainage system, as well as land under the D’MOSS system. The Municipality has a strong environment department and preservation is a key element of protecting the valuable ecological assets found within the Municipality. The topography of the site is also challenging as there a number of hectares which are steeper than 1:3. This land is too steep to develop and thus the remaining land needs to be optimally used in the most efficient possible way.
The third and final contextual issue has been the 55 decibel noise contour. The contour line is the noise, projected for the year 2035 (with the growth of KSIA). The eThekwini Municipality Health Department has stipulated that no residential development can be built within the contour line31. There has been much debate, both within the planning department and the private sector, as to whether this is appropriate in the South African context. It is in line with international best practice for new airports however, many old well established airports have housing situated close to their boundaries, including the old Durban International airport that was situated to the south of the CBD.
This begs the question is the projected noise (in 2035) more important than giving housing to those in dire need? The backlog for low-cost housing within the country is growing not decreasing and there are more people than ever who need adequate shelter and increased well-
31 Refer to Figure 3.8 in Chapter 3. The contour line loops across the site and has created a 55 decibel noise zone
being. One possible way of answering this question is to undertake research to model what the noise levels really are. It is highly probable that, as the topography will have an effect on the noise levels, the slopes will mute noise and change the way it is heard and at what volume. The noise contours were developed using a flat model i.e. level ground, which will not accurately predict the noise that will actually occur given the topography of the site.
There has also been some contestation around the change of uses within the noise zone as the housing has been replaced with commercial and retail activities. However, commercial and retail land outside of the noise zone has not been converted to residential to mitigate the loss of the housing within the noise zone.
In the data collected the respondents comment on how five to six years ago there were tensions and disharmonies between stakeholders. However through discussions and co-operations all parties have now attained a shared vison for a sustainable approach to the development of the north. All the development stakeholders want the best for the area, even from the different perspectives. Therefore arguably the power relations are not equal but they are stable.
EThekwini Municipality and THD both have positive attributes to help deliver the desired sustainable development. However the eThekwini Municipality has an ‘arrow in their bow’ as they could expropriate the whole site to develop for low-cost housing, therefore they have the ability to wield political power. THD has the knowledge and understanding to develop economic opportunities and job creation. The power relationship may not be equal but it is not a disharmonious relationship as it is based on mutual respect. The eThekwini Municipality has been operational for the last thirteen years therefore there has been sufficient time for the municipality and THD to ‘bed down’
Cornubia has ecological value in the form of wetlands and D’MOSS. The value of the remainder of the land has been reduced because of the impact of the type of agriculture (monoculture of sugar cane) on the land in the past. THD have realised the value of the agricultural land in terms of development in the north and have created high value developments for example, Mount Edgecombe which was built on land that was deemed undesirable as it was adjacent to the N2 and the Phoenix industrial estate. However, whilst THD have succeeded in creating high economic value in a sought after development, there has been an imbalance in the area as social
development has been side-lined. With the Cornubia development THD have had to engage with low-cost housing, even though it is being developed by the Municipality. This type of development has never been considered previously by THD as they usually focus on the high- end segment of the market.